Rice growing update

Here's the view from the patio nowadays:


The farmer has put up lines around and across each rice field in preparation for setting up nets to keep the birds away once the rice grains develop. There's still quite a bit of water in the fields, and the frogs continue to serenade us each evening.

According to the news last night, the rainy season has officially ended here now, 15 days later than average and 29 days later than last year. It's the latest end-of-rainy-season since records began in 1951. The meterological office in Japan is obsessed with these kinds of statistics but I have no idea how they decide when the rainy season starts and ends, as it's still grey and damp here...